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Honestly, Yuyan thought Yino was overreacting.

In her view, this was just a simple healing session, but what she didn't know was that for Yino, this was literally threatening his life.

Half of Yino's cultivation came from evil paths, and now Yuyan's evil-dispelling technique was essentially attempting to destroy half of Yino's cultivation!

Thinking about it carefully, that fat Taoist was quite devious!

The manual he gave Yuyan was definitely not an ordinary technique from their Celestial Medicine Temple!

In his previous life when Yino played Fallen Immortal, he had also trained at the Celestial Medicine Temple. But even after maximizing all exploration levels at the Celestial Medicine Temple, Yino truly couldn't remember such a terrifying evil-dispelling technique there!

After all, the Celestial Medicine Temple belonged to the Central Plains Taoist methods, emphasizing harmony between humans and nature, self-cultivation and nourishment.

But the technique Yuyan was practicing was definitely unnatural—it was specifically designed for exorcism and warding off evil! If true energy was refined through this technique and then enchanted onto a sword, Yino estimated it would gain an effect like Undead Slayer VIII!

So from Yino's perspective, this technique was several times more terrifying in its evil-dispelling effect than the normal techniques from the Celestial Medicine Temple!

In the game, this technique would be at least a gold-quality third-grade technique, something that would fetch a sky-high price at the Hundred Spirits Pavilion. Yino had no idea how that fat dead man had obtained such a top-tier technique to casually give to Yuyan.

"Yino, hang in there!"

"Just one more minute to complete this round of purification!"

During the painful struggle, Yuyan finally offered some encouraging words with excitement.

As time passed, Yino's struggles gradually weakened.

He had moved beyond the peak of pain now and felt somewhat exhausted. Perhaps because the evil energy in his body was being purified, Yino felt dizzy, as if Yuyan had drained all his vital energy...

"Done!"

"Yino, at least you didn't cry—you held on! You didn't disappoint me after all!"

After enduring the final portion, Yuyan finally completed the technique and sat somewhat exhausted on Yino's back, wiping away her sweat.

But her words were met with no response from the young man beneath her.

Yuyan blinked, gradually feeling the air grow eerily silent.

She hurriedly moved forward, bending down to closely examine Yino's face. Only when Yino blinked his eyes with a lifeless expression did Yuyan finally confirm the young man wasn't dead, and she sighed in relief.

"Senior Sister..."

"I'm fine... let me rest for a while..."

Yino was thoroughly subdued.

Since his rebirth, he had never suffered such torment. It felt like undergoing a blood transfusion surgery without anesthesia.

Now, Yino felt an overwhelming sense of righteousness in his chest. His body was completely filled with his senior sister's true energy, and even his meridians had all been forcibly reshaped by Yuyan's energy.

Thinking of this, Yino blinked and hastily held his breath to examine his cultivation.

Holy shit...

Can you really cultivate like this...

The astonishing result made Yino curse out loud.

After Yuyan's round of evil-dispelling, Yino felt that the evil cultivation he had gained from sacrificing to the Full Moon Mother Goddess had weakened considerably. But conversely, due to the large amount of high-purity true energy Yuyan had injected, Yino's Natural Sword Holy Physique was able to manifest its destined aura, and even grew his sword attributes significantly.

This negative and positive exchange essentially converted Yino's evil cultivation into righteous cultivation.

Converting it all, Yino's overall strength had actually increased!

"Yino, how do you feel?"

After a moment's rest, Yuyan couldn't help but ask curiously.

She somewhat timidly moved her bottom off Yino's back to sit on the edge of the bed. When Yuyan looked back, however, she blushed at the two large peach-shaped black mists on Yino's back.

Before entering the room, Yino had already removed his outer Taoist robe.

So he was wearing only a pure white undershirt on his upper body.

Straddling his back, Yuyan had to both restrain Yino's struggles and concentrate on her technique, naturally leaving traces of warm, damp sweat on Yino's undershirt.

Fortunately, Yino was now somewhat exhausted and still lying face down on the bed, so he couldn't see.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Yuyan pulled up the blanket from the bedside and covered Yino's waist, conveniently hiding the peach-shaped water stains she had left.

"Does it still hurt?"

After covering him with the blanket, Yuyan patted her cheeks to suppress her blush and inquired with concern once more.

Yino heaved a long sigh, wanting to be upset with his senior sister, but since he had lied first, no matter how painful it was, he could only pretend nothing had happened.

"It's fine, not too painful, just consider it bone-scraping treatment..."

The young man said lifelessly.

But as the atmosphere in the room grew quiet, Yino suddenly recalled something important.

"By the way, Senior Sister..."

As the atmosphere grew awkward, Yino had just begun to speak when Yuyan's delicate body trembled in fright.

The reason was simple—during this period of calm, Yuyan had also remembered a promise she had seemingly casually made earlier.

"W-what is it?"

Yuyan felt a bit uneasy and could only carefully respond.

But at her side, the young man lying on the bed raised his face with curiosity and looked toward his senior sister:

"Senior Sister..."

"I remember when you were channeling energy, you promised that the day my cultivation recovers, you would become my Dao partner..."

"So Senior Sister, were you being serious, or just saying that to comfort me?"

…

It was golden autumn.

The bridges and flowing waters of Jiangnan Region were covered with fallen leaves.

Xumo crouched under a bridge, picking up a wooden stick and idly disturbing some small insects on the water's surface.

His eyes were vacant, his expression somewhat dazed. Though looking at the water, his thoughts had already drifted to his distant childhood.

Back then...

He was just a little beggar on the street.

It was autumn then too, the weather growing increasingly cold. Xumo had no cotton coat to wear and could only warm himself by a fire under the bridge in his tattered long robe.

Because of a territory dispute, Xumo had been beaten by other beggars on the street.

With no choice, Xumo could only crouch in the damp underside of the bridge to keep warm.

A cold wind blew through the bridge tunnel, causing Xumo to shiver and sneeze.

But that one sneeze accidentally extinguished the small fire in front of him.

At that time, Xumo felt very aggrieved. He had been orphaned at a young age, bullied while living on the streets, and now even his fire went out because of a sneeze...

Back then, Xumo felt he was the most unfortunate child in the whole world.

Even Xumo's grievances were lonely with no one to share them, so he could only hug himself and silently cry under the bridge.

But just when Xumo was at his loneliest, a woman with a fluffy tail hanging between her white silk legs appeared before him—

"Xumo."

Yes, her voice sounded just like this now, softly calling Xumo's name.

Xumo blinked, wondering if he was seeing an illusion.

But when he looked up, the white fox girl with several demonic tails hanging down was truly standing before him in the flesh.

"Master?"

Xumo widened his eyes in disbelief.

"Master, is it really you! Master, you're still alive!"

Xumo was excited, repeatedly rubbing his eyes to confirm he wasn't hallucinating.

He stood up, stepped forward, and reached out to try to embrace the master who had depended on him for so many years.

But just as Xumo was about to touch the girl's body, his enthusiastic embrace was coldly evaded as the white fox girl stepped back twice, her sidelong glance revealing hostility.

"Xumo, you still have the nerve to call me your master?"

"No... no... Master, listen to my explanation, I later brought the sect elders back to save you, but... but..."

Xumo frantically tried to explain.

But halfway through, his brows raised as he noticed something incongruous about the white fox girl he hadn't seen for days—

"Speaking of which, Master, why do you have an extra new tail compared to before?"

"—?!"